Sebi to tweak ICDR, MF and other regulations

Move to rationalise existing rules in line with new FPI norms

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is set to tweak a number of existing regulations to bring them in line with the new Foreign Portfolio Investors(FPI) regime, the new unified framework for foreign portfolio investment into India.

There are at least five sets of regulations which will require changes to reflect the changeover from the Foreign Institutional Investor or FII framework to the FPI, according to the minutes of a board meeting held on October 5, now made available on the Sebi website.

The ones that will require the changes include the Sebi Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements(ICDR), Sebi Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers Regulations, 2011; Sebi Depositories and Participants Regulations, 1996; Sebi Intermediaries Regulations, 2008 and the Sebi Mutual Funds Regulations 1996. The term foreign institutional investor will be replaced with foreign portfolio investor in all of these regulations, which is required for for them to be aligned with the new norms.

Additionally, Sebi is also looking to change the format for the statement of assets and liabilities under its ICDR regulations to bring it in line with the revised Companies Act, according to a separate item on the agenda of the board meeting. The changes under the new format include dividing assets and liabilities on a current and non-current basis and removal of a specific section for stating the networth of the company. The changes were on the basis of recommendations by the Sebi Committee On Disclosures and Accounting Standards(SCODA), according to the agenda of the board meeting.